Celery Stir Fry

Celery. We take it for granted, don’t we? It adds crunch to potato salads, and flavor to chicken stock and turkey stuffing; it’s ever the bridesmaid, never the bride. That’s why I was intrigued when I saw a recipe for celery stir-fry in my friend Nancy Hachisu’s Japanese Farm Food cookbook, a simple celery stir-fry with chili infused oil and soy sauce. Such a simple preparation, and so so good. Try it!

Celery Stir Fry Recipe

Prep time:10 minutes

Cook time:5 minutes

Yield:Serves 6 as a side dish.

We found the best way to julienne the celery is to slice off the root end and any part of the celery beyond the main stalk. Cut the stalks in thirds, or if they are very long, quarters, and then cut each of those pieces in half lengthwise. This gives you a manageable, flat surface to slice into matchsticks. Nancy's original recipe calls for using a high quality rapeseed oil (another name for canola oil) and/or light sesame oil. We added a little dark sesame oil at the finish which was just lovely, so you might want to try that too.

Ingredients

2 Tbsp high quality rapeseed oil (canola oil) or light sesame oil

3 dried chile peppers, broken in half

4 cups julienned celery

1-2 Tbsp soy sauce (to taste)

Method

Heat the oils and chiles in a wok or frying pan over high heat for 90 seconds, or until the chiles become fragrant and the seeds sizzle. Add the celery and stir-fry for 3 minutes. Add the soy sauce and stir-fry one more minute. Serve hot or at room temperature.

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Great timing! I noticed I had celery in my fridge this morning left over from a previous recipe, and I was wondering what to do with it. I was already going to cook salmon tonight with an asian marinade, so this will work perfectly for a side.

In the “linked” recipe for Stir-Fried Celery with Meat Sauce the celery is peeled. Did you do that on this recipe? If not, did you notice the strings?

Hi Emily, Sometimes when you work with large, tough, outer ribs of celery, it helps to peel the outer side of them to remove the strings. I don’t remember doing that with this celery, probably because we had already used the outer ribs for some other dish. ~Elise

Great, simple recipe. Celery is one of those staples I always keep in my home to ad to the classic side dishes you mentioned. I’m going to have to substitute this for my standby asparagus next steak dinner.

I’m guessing that it’s not the dark sesame oil that you are using in this, right? Thanks for the recipe – it looks delish!

Nancy uses either high quality rapeseed oil (canola oil) or a light sesame oil. I think that we used rapeseed oil and then added a little dark sesame oil at the finish, just to get a little more sesame flavor. ~Elise

Just an interesting factoid about celery – This is the beginning of Amish wedding season in central PA and celery is a major part of the celebration. Several dishes with celery will be served with dinner and the house and tables are decorated with vases of leafy celery. So, not everyone takes celery for granted!

@ geg – Japanese soy sauce is substantially lighter than Chinese soy sauce (which is more common), so that could potentially be the reason yours turned out too salty. Kikkoman is a Japanese brand sold widely outside Japan, or look for soy sauce meant specifically for sushi. Or just dilute/use less if you are using a Chinese soy sauce. (^_^)

What a great idea Elise. Celery is like parsley, the overlooked deliciousness lurking in the kitchen. I love gnawing on celery sticks but have never thought of cooking it as you did. Now that I see this recipe, I remember my grandmother making a spicy celery side-dish with soy and garlic. Must make ….

I’ve been looking at celery wrong for so many years – I’d never thought to turn it into a star vegetable like this! This sounds so good and so unique. I’m featuring this post as part of Food Fetish Friday (with a link-back and attribution) and thanks for making me drool!

This was so good…I made this tonight with italian chicken and it paired well. This was easy to make and I did not have the asian chili’s required and just had canola oil…I used red pepper flakes. Turned out FAB! Definitely a keeper! Thanks Elise!

I do think it’s weird that some people look at what to me is obviously a photo of a red chili and see it not as a chili, but as an insect. The chilies are not optional. That said, they do grow and sell chili roasted grasshoppers in Oaxaca, Mexico which are quite delicious, in a crunchy, spicy way. Feel free to add those if you have them. Me, I’ll pass. :-p ~Elise

Oh my gosh, you are soooo right on here. So so true. I love celery, but it is never a star of my veggie sides, just a team player. And there isn’t anything wrong with that, but I have never made it a star. I will have to do this. Thanks, Elise, such a great idea!

Great recipe! Also excellent done with cucumbers, as served at Little Szechuan in St. Paul, MN. If you like it spicy, a little hot chili oil at the end does the trick. Just make sure you get the kind that’s made from sesame oil and not the stuff made from cottonseed or other lower-quality oils.

Thank you so much!
I had relatives unexpectedly stay for dinner and my only fresh vegetable for sidedish was celery. One head nicely served 6 with second helpings. This recipe is yummy, crisply textured, and presents nicely. I will serve it again.

Instead of chilis, I had some chili oil (contained flakes and seeds) from the last time I had Chinese take-out. Worked great–about 2 t gave a light heat but complemented the sesame and soy flavors. Thanks for the rescue!

Also, I didn’t know that canola was another name for rapeseed. Great info.

This was really great, thanks for sharing! I modified it slightly and used chili garlic sauce instead of dried peppers and added peanuts – I liked the more balanced flavor and crunch from the peanuts. Also, if I were to make it again, I might go with shorter matchsticks as the longer ones can be difficult to chew.

Great recipe to work with. I went1/2 soy sauce 1/2 oyster sauce. I diced the celery and made up version. Then I used it as a filling for lettuce wrap sprinkled with hemp seeds :) one of those nights using what I have available.